Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elías Jaua on Thursday night said President Hugo Chávez is "fully conscious" and recovering. Even though he noted that Executive Vice-President Nicolás Maduro is in charge of providing official information, Jaua added that Chávez is about to face "a tougher and deeper battle against his disease."

During a telephone conversation with Minister of Communication and Information Ernesto Villegas, Jaua explained that Barinas state governor Adán Chávez, accompanied by Minister of Petroleum and Mining Rafael Ramírez, Solicitor General Cilia Flores and Vice-President Nicolás Maduro held a meeting with President Chávez.

According to Jaua, the meeting dealt with economic and political issues, as well as some topics related to the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the election of mayors to be held this year. He added that Maduro would announce the decisions made at the meeting.

The foreign minister also rejected the "outrageous publication" of a photo showing a man on tubes mistakenly identified as President Chávez. In this regard, he stressed that the Venezuelan ambassador to Spain was instructed to voice Venezuela's rejection. He said the publication of a fake photo of Chávez amounts to "an attack on the human condition of an extraordinary man as Commander Chávez and the people who love him."

Jaua rejects statements by John Kerry

Democrat Senator John Kerry, who was nominated by President Barack Obama as the new Secretary of State of the United States, said on Thursday that there are possibilities of transition in Venezuela. He put Colombia as an example of the intended relationship with all Latin American nations.

"Depending on what will happen in Venezuela, there could be a real opportunity of transition there," said Kerry in his hearing of confirmation for his position, where he also expressed confidence in renewed US relations with Ecuador and Bolivia, Efe cited.

In this regard, Jaua rejected the fact that, "despite Chavez's efforts to restore respectful relations with the United States," Kerry issued statements on Venezuela's internal affairs without having taken office.

"We hope this is corrected. Relations with Venezuela have to be based on mutual respect," Jaua concluded.

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Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Brazil on March 13 to demand the ouster of embattled President Dilma Rousseff, carrying banners expressing anger at bribery scandals and economic woes. A banner read "We don't want a new Venezuela in Brazil."